Why make such a big deal about consciousness? Because it IS a BFD!!
First of all, life would be pointless without consciousness since we’d all be biological robots unaware of our own thoughts and actions! Right; so be thankful you have it!
Second, consider its nature: what it is and what it isn’t.
It’s the awareness OF your mind’s functioning.
It’s not a mental function per se. Consciousness or awareness OF what you’re thinking is immutable and universal. While your thoughts change constantly like your heartbeats and breaths, your awareness OF them never does. Your awareness OF your thoughts is exactly the same today as it was the day you were born; and yours, your neighbors’, and mine are all identical, though obviously our thoughts are unique to each of us.
According to Sankhya, the science upon which the practice of Raja Yoga is based, consciousness is the one thing that isn’t subject to the vagaries of time and space (karma). Consider the nature of something that isn’t affected by time and space – and that it’s an aspect of YOU!
Your consciousness OF your thoughts is clearly subtler than your thoughts themselves.
According to the Bhagavad Gita (“God’s Song”) which predates Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, consciousness is “autonomous, a spotless lotus, eternal, infinite, pure, unblemished, immovable, existent, indivisible, beyond decay and death, everlasting, immutable, and imperishable.”
The ancient texts say consciousness is the aspect of you that can’t be burned or drowned; today they’d say it was bulletproof.
By controlling and quieting your body and mind, you draw inward, closer to your essence, your true self: your consciousness.
But resolute faith in the existence of God?
When you realize that an aspect of you is literally bulletproof, THAT recognition begs ALL kinds of questions, starting with “What’s the source of THAT part of me – which btw isn’t described in any anatomy book ever published?!” Raja Yoga is a universal practice literally intended to end human suffering, yet it’s an entirely individual practice since only you have access to your mind!
Over time, the practice engenders absolute faith in the existence of something we literally aren’t capable of experiencing directly: God.
